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Yes, it looked like Caldwell was running a junior varsity squad in the first quarter. To his credit, he settled his young(ish) team down, fixed the mistakes, and stayed aggressive.

Caldwell deserves to show what he can do with the most balanced roster he’s had since he arrived in 2014. It makes no sense to get rid of him now. Besides, he’s won, and his teams compete.

Second, Matthew Stafford made a few throws against Arizona that only a few other quarterbacks can make. Think about the 6-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter, where he dropped back, rolled to his left, and whipsawed a pass to Marvin Jones.

From the view in the press box, the play – and throw – looked standard. The television replay showed otherwise.

But even if Arizona’s line is average, that doesn’t negate the thumping and percussive way the Lions’ defensive line walloped them. Anthony Zettel, A’Shawn Robinson, Ziggy Ansah, Cornelius Washington and Haloti Ngata hurried and pressured Carson Palmer for most of the game.

Kenny Golladay celebrates his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Lions' 35-23 win over the Cardinals in the opener Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017 at Ford Field.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)

It’s not so hard to believe the line played well. You’ve seen it before. What’s harder to make sense of are the defensive backs.

They looked quick, explosive, deep and ornery. They batted down balls.

That means they were in position to bat down a ball, which means they knew tendencies, had anticipated, and ran like hell.

CLOSE

The Detroit Lions cheerleaders unveiled new uniforms during the team's home opener — and there are more to come.

Several times on Sunday, I had to check the replay to make sure what I was watching live was reality.

I was. And so were you.

Maybe you’re not ready to believe it. Again, that’s understandable. It was just one game. Against a middling team.

And they may not, depending on how the season progresses. That’s fair. That’s also avoiding the truth.

Which is that this team looked a little more talented Sunday than it was a year ago. Looked a bit more aggressive, too. Especially on defense.

This makes sense, as players like safety Miles Killibrew gain playing time, react more quickly, use those extra fractions of a second to hawk toward the ball. Same for cornerback Quandre Diggs, who looked better not because of a longer resume, but because of more internal competition.